There is not a single one in Colorado. There's not even one in the surrounding states. Is there a way I can consult with one without them actually seeing my dogs?

I'm considering medication for Mu. I'm torn because if she didn't live with Tipper I would have no reason for meds. But I'm getting to the point where I need to explore other options because I'm not confident in our safety measures and I'm really concerned about escalating fights. I'd really like to hear other people's stories about medication and especially dog aggression/reactivity (or inter-pack fighting) and how it responded to meds.

I know there are vet behavior folks who do phone or fax consultations, so that could very well be an option. I think one of the most well known is PetFax: http://www.tufts.edu/vet/petfax/

I don't know anything about how inter-household aggression responds to meds, though.

Thanks Erin!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Miakoda

I'm not sure how meds will put an end to dog aggression or fighting within a pack.

For me, crating and rotating has always been my simple method of ensuring the safety of everyone.

Nearly every dog fight we've had has been started by Mu. She gets stressed out and takes it out on Tipper. IF I decide to medicate, I'd want something to help her calm down so that we could work on counter conditioning. The end goal would be to phase out the medication.

That's great and I'm glad it works for you. I don't feel that my dogs do well in a purely crate and rotate situation. I don't think that they get enough out of crate time (especially during the winter) as my husband and I both work full time. We have our house set up so that they can both be loose and we *thought* they couldn't get to each other. Over the weekend that proved untrue. Trust me, medication is a last resort for me. I don't know if it will fix anything, I don't know if it's a viable option, that's why I'm looking into it and asking questions.

I don't have time to fully respond now, but I'm posting so I remember to come back later. When Squash and Pip had a big blowout, it was the straw that broke the camel's back for me to put him on clomipramine. It has helped tremendously along with a lot of behavioral modification and gate/rotate.

Ask your veterinarian if they have any references. The veterinary "behaviorist" (she does not refer to herself that way, but that she has a special interest in behavior) I like best in my area actually is not board certified, so she wouldn't show up on an "official" search but I refer to her regularly.

I don't have time to fully respond now, but I'm posting so I remember to come back later. When Squash and Pip had a big blowout, it was the straw that broke the camel's back for me to put him on clomipramine. It has helped tremendously along with a lot of behavioral modification and gate/rotate.

Ask your veterinarian if they have any references. The veterinary "behaviorist" (she does not refer to herself that way, but that she has a special interest in behavior) I like best in my area actually is not board certified, so she wouldn't show up on an "official" search but I refer to her regularly.

I would be happy if we could just have them in a gate rotate situation (like we have for the last 10 months or so). I don't need them to love each other, I just want them stop trying to do damage. I'll look into clomipramine and I'll definitely call my vet later, thank you! I'd love to hear what kind of behavioral modification you used (when you have time).

I have no personal experience in meds (I'm sorry you're going through this btw, I know how bad it sucks)
But the veterinary behaviourist we use for work does phone consults because he lives halfway across the country. I haven't had a lot to do with that side of it but I think they usually talk it out and if possible, he gets video of the situation.
The client on this end also obviously has my boss to assess the behaviour and discuss it with the VB as well so he isn't just relying on the owners. As far as I know it's usually compulsive behaviours or high anxiety that we refer people to him for.

Okay, after speaking to the most helpful lady EVER I have a consult set up with my vet on Friday and the name of a vet in Denver who deals with behavioral problems/meds all the time (in case my vet wants to confer, or if I want to try someone else). I feel like we're moving again, hopefully this is a step in the right direction.